| Roura | |
| Commune Status: | Commune |
| Image Coat Of Arms: | Blason ville fr Roura (Guyanne).svg |
| Map Size: | 220px |
| Adjustable Map: | Locator map of Roura 2022.png |
| Map Caption: | Location of the commune (in red) within French Guiana |
| Coordinates: | 4.7242°N -52.3215°W |
| Arrondissement: | Cayenne |
| Insee: | 97310 |
| Postal Code: | 97311 |
| Mayor: | Jean-Claude Labrador[1] |
| Term: | 2020 - 2026 |
| Intercommunality: | CA Centre Littoral |
| Elevation M: | 231 |
| Elevation Min M: | 0 |
| Elevation Max M: | 462 |
| Area Km2: | 3902.5 |
Roura (pronounced as /fr/) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city of Roura is bordered by Matoury and Montsinéry-Tonnegrande in the North, Kourou and Saint-Elie in the North West and West, and finally by Régina in the South and East.[2]
The town of Roura was founded in 1675 by Jesuits. In 1786, Marquis de Lafayette attempted an early emancipation of the slaves by allowing small scale agriculture on the savanna Gabriel near Roury. The experiment failed, and was abandoned in 1796.[3] Between 1809 and 1817, Roura was captured by the Portuguese and part of Brazil. In 1848, slavery was abolished.[4]
Cacao is a village of Hmong farmers. The population were refugees from Laos who were resettled in French Guiana in[5] 1977[6] The reasoning was that living, and working conditions were similar to their native land.[7]
The city of Roura is home to 2 main roads.
In 1998, the Kaw-Roura Marshland Nature Reserve was established, and covers an area of 94,700 hectares between Roura and Régina,[10] and is sometimes nicknamed "the Everglades of Guyana".[11]
The Trésor Regional Nature Reserve is a 2,464 hectares nature reserve[12] situated on the flank of the Kaw Mountain.[13] It became a protected area in 2010.[12]